Tuesday, August 21, 2012

"To Whom Can We Go?"

Am I Going to Leave or Stay?

In John 6:56-69, the followers of Jesus have heard words they
do not understand. They are repelled! It simply is impossible to believe that Jesus is inviting them to eat his flesh and drink his blood…so,
many of those who had followed Jesus up to this point now walk away. They have
reached an obstacle which they cannot overcome.

It
is not difficult to imagine his sadness as Jesus watched them leave…He feared
that he was going to be completely abandoned. So, he turns to the twelve
apostles and asks them what they are going to do...

Peter
speaks for us when he responds “Lord to whom can we go?”

We
do all that we can in life to avoid being placed in position of vulnerability, yet
in this Gospel we have the twelve surrendering control and choosing complete
dependency on Jesus. That dependency reveals an ultimate statement of faith: Lord, we have no options. We have no choice
but to keep following you.

Faith is deepened in situations
where self-reliance is no longer possible, where it is difficult to rely on our
intellect, reason or abilities.

The
process of being attracted by something in Jesus - listening to what the Word says
- and then asking: “am I going to leave or stay?” is part of our spiritual
journey. For most of us, it can happen many times in a lifetime. We are faced
with a choice: do I accept this, or do I acknowledge that I have to grow into
its meaning? And what do I do? To whom do I turn while I am growing into
understanding? These
are the steps we take to be totally dependent, reliant, and available to Jesus.

This
is the challenge of the Gospel and in the end our response has to be personal…to
walk away…or to stay and walk further into the Mystery. (Wellspring of Scripture)